


A Magical Place

by starklyman



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, The West Wing
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-20
Updated: 2017-11-28
Packaged: 2018-09-10 18:01:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8926804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starklyman/pseuds/starklyman
Summary: Drabbles and one-shots of our favorite White House staffers attending Hogwarts. Most will be centered around Josh and Donna.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Josh just wants Donna to support him. 
> 
> I do not own The West Wing

“You’re rooting for us today, right?”

 

“Josh, we’ve been over this.”

 

“Yeah, but I thought you might have changed your mind.”

 

“You mean since last night? No, I’m afraid not.”

 

Josh slumped back against the edge of the table, clueless to the dirty looks Donna’s fellow housemates were shooting him. He picked at the splinters on the bench and looked at her with a pout.

 

“I can’t believe you’re going to root against your best friend.”

 

“I’ll root for you to do good, Josh, I’m just not rooting for the rest of your team to do good.”

 

“What about CJ?”

 

She hesitated. “Well, I’ll root for her to do good too.”

 

Josh harrumphed and went back to picking at the splinters.

 

“Shouldn’t you be down there already anyway? The match starts soon.”

 

He shrugged flippantly. “I got time.”

 

He swiveled on the bench so that he was now facing the right way and nicked a piece of toast from her plate. She swatted his hand, but not before he could shove it into his mouth and grin at her, bread overflowing from his lips.

 

“Shouldn’t you be sitting with your own house instead of bugging me? I thought this was an important day or whatever.”

 

“It is, Donna, which is exactly why I need your support,” He gestures at her with the hand still holding her toast and she rolls her eyes.

 

“I told you, Josh, I’ll root for you.”

 

“Yes, but I’ll know on the inside you really want me to lose.”

 

“You can’t really expect me to root against my own house.”

 

“We have a chance this year, Donna, an actual chance unlike you guys, who haven’t had a chance to win the Quidditch Cup in years. Would you rather have Slytherin win it?”

 

“Well, it would put Toby in a good mood,” She says with a bright grin.

 

“Donna!” He groans.

 

“Josh!”

 

“Wouldn’t you rather have McGarry happy than Toby? Because winning the Quidditch Cup would sure put him in a good mood.”

 

Donna shrugs. “Either is good with me.” She looks at something past his should and pushes him. “You have to go now.”

 

He cranes his neck to see what she was looking at and sees the rest of the Gryffindor quidditch team getting up and heading out to the pitch. CJ stops by the door and puts her hands on her hips, looking at him expectantly.

 

He gets up and pulls on Donna’s hand, pulling her up with him. “Walk with me.”

 

“CJ,” he says when they reach her. “Please tell Donna that she has to root for us to win for the good of the school.”

 

“You’re ridiculous, Josh, of course she’s not rooting for us, we’re playing her house.”

 

“Thank you,” Donna says emphatically, with a pointed look at Josh.

 

“It’s not as if they’re front runners or something,” he says, throwing his hands in the air and walking backwards so he could face them. “Slytherin has won it the past three years, don’t you think it’s time someone else had a chance?”

 

“Of course I do, Josh, but I can’t root against my own house. That’s got to go against some kind of ethics code. Plus, I don’t think my rooting for my own house will have a heavy impact on the outcome of the match.”

 

“You don’t know that,” Josh grumbles under his breath, turning around to walk the right way.

 

“I’m a Hufflepuff through and through, Josh, I can’t violate that. House pride and all that, you know?”

 

“Yeah yeah,” He says, waving his hand dismissively.

 

“Now that we’ve settled this,” CJ begins. “It’s time for you to focus up, Lyman. I need you on your A game out there today.” They stop in front of Gryffindor’s tent, CJ giving him a meaningful look before going inside.

 

“She sounds pretty serious, Josh, you better do good out there today.”

 

“I’d do better if I knew you were rooting for me,” He says, sighing dramatically.

 

She puts her hands on his shoulders, forcing him to look at her and smiles her brightest smile at him.

 

“I am rooting for you, Josh. I always root for you to do good.”

 

He smiles at that, then remembers he’s supposed to be mad at her and scowls again.

 

“You can’t distract me with your feminine wiles, Donna. I see right through it.”

 

“I think most would consider that me just trying to knock some sense into you, which you really need.”

 

“Most can’t see through your feminine wiles. Me, on the other hand…”

 

“Right right, of course. I forgot you’re impossible to fool.”

 

“Josh!” He winced at the sound of an irritated CJ calling his name and pointed behind him.

 

“I better go.”

 

“Good luck.”

  
“You don’t really mean that.”

 

“Oh, just go you ridiculous boy.”

 

He grins. “Yeah,” and ducks into the tent.

 

oOoOo

 

Later that night he stumbles to the Hufflepuff common room entrance, drunk off fire whiskey someone smuggled into the castle, and pounds on the portrait, demanding to see Donna Moss.

 

She climbs out in her pajamas and squints at him.

 

“Josh, what on earth are you doing here so late? You could get in trouble! Are you drunk?”

 

“That… is entirely beside the point. You were rooting for us, Donna, I know you were.”

 

She fights valiantly not to smile, but he can see right through it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Joshua.”

 

“Yes you do. Because if you weren’t rooting for us, there’s no way we would’ve won. You’re my good luck charm.” He may be slurring his words just a little and leaning towards her just a little too far, but he means every word.

 

“Go back to your common room, Josh. You should be celebrating with your teammates and friends. And try not to get caught on your back, will you?” She tries to sound stern, but her soft smile gives her away and she nudges his shoulder.

 

“Goodnight, Donnatella. I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

 

He stumbles back in the direction of the Gryffindor common room, grinning the entire way.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> CJ attempts to help Josh out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is short, but I wanted to get back into this fic and I'm desperate for ideas so I just went with whatever I could think of. 
> 
> Please please please feel free to send me prompts. I'm very low on ideas for more chapters and receiving prompts will give me a lot more motivation. You can send them to my tumblr which is starklyman. 
> 
> I do not own The West Wing.

"Josh for the love of God could we go two seconds without hearing your voice?"

"There's been no evidence of it so far, sir."

"CJ!"

"It's the truth, Joshua."

"You two! Can I teach please?"

"Sorry, sir." They said at the same time.

"Thanks for that." Josh hissed at CJ, scowling at her.

"It's not my fault that even McGarry thinks you're irritating."

"I have an actual crisis here, CJ!"

After a particularly scathing glare from Professor McGarry when they're caught talking again, they're forced to continue the conversation after class.

"What's the big deal, Josh? You finally figured out you like Donna, so what? Everyone else has known for years, dummy."

"You wanna say it louder, I don't think the people on the seventh floor heard you."

She rolls her eyes at him as he glances around to see if anyone heard her.

"The 'big deal' is that we've been best friends practically since we met and she probably doesn't feel the same way about me which means this could ruin everything and-"

"Woah woah woah calm down there, buddy. You're going into overthinking-Josh mode which is never good." She sighs and takes pity on him when she sees his pathetic desperate face. "Look, it's not going to ruin everything."

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do."

"How on earth could you possibly-"

"For crying out loud she's in love with you, too, you idiot!"

"She... what?"

CJ resists the urge to smack her forehead and rolls her eyes at him instead.

"Just talk to her, you schmuck."

"But-"

"Talk to her. Trust me, you'll be glad you did."

He gives her one more desperate look before she's shoving him in the direction of the Great Hall and shaking her head at him as he walks away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, prompts are greatly appreciated!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josh gets sorted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so I figure it's time for some background info. Now, everyone has their own opinions on every character and these are my opinions on what houses they belong to. So while I'm open to constructive criticism, what house they're in won't change so I'm sorry if you disagree. But if you have questions as to why I decided to put a character in a particular house, then feel free to ask!
> 
> In this fic, Josh and CJ are the same year and they're both Gryffindors. Also Josh was a hatstall as you'll sort of see in this chapter. They became friends when they sat with each other on the train and then were sorted into the same house. Toby is a year ahead of them and he's a Slytherin. He and CJ grew up in the same town/village which is how they knew each other before Hogwarts and how they became friends. Sam is a year younger than Josh and CJ and is in Ravenclaw. He grew up in the same area as Josh which is how they already knew each other. Donna is two years younger than Josh and CJ and she's a muggle born Hufflepuff. I haven't quite decided how she and Josh met yet so I'll probably do a chapter on that at some point. Jed is the Headmaster and he was in Ravenclaw. Leo is the Deputy Headmaster and he's the head of Gryffindor, so basically he's McGonagall. I haven't decided if I'm going to include Will yet but if I do he'll be in Slytherin. 
> 
> Like I said before most chapters will be centered on Josh and Donna or just Josh because that's what I have muse for but I'm certainly not opposed to writing chapters centered on other characters. 
> 
> Again, like always, prompts are extremely encouraged. Tumblr is starklyman

* * *

Josh isn't quite sure why he's so nervous. His father had told him all about the sorting and what happens during it. He knows that they just put the hat over your eyes and then it decides and that's that. But he still can't overcome the queasiness in his gut. 

To be truthful, Josh isn't sure that it's the sorting that's making him nervous, but rather the part where Professor McGarry announces to the whole school who he is. 

He knows most of them remember and just thinking about the pitying sympathy-filled looks he'll be getting makes him sick.

"Cregg, Claudia Jean!"

He perks up the name and actually pays attention as CJ makes her way to the stool. The hat is placed over head and after about 20 seconds it calls out: "GRYFFINDOR!"

He claps along with everyone else and gives her a thumbs up as she passes him. He's forced to wait through approximately 15 more names until they finally get to his.

"Lyman, Joshua!"

He walks forward, pointedly ignoring the scattered whispers and murmurs that follow the calling of his name.

It's been 2 years since the accident that took his sister's life and while most students had moved on, they hadn't forgotten. Especially, it seems, her former housemates, where most of the whispers were coming from.

He tries valiantly not to look in that direction, but their faces are the last ones he sees before the Sorting Hat is dropped, unceremoniously, over his eyes.

"Ah, Mr. Lyman," the hat says. "Such a terrible tragedy that happened to your sister."

He flinches at the hat's words, uncomfortable at the mention of Joanie, but thankfully, it seems to sense this and moves on.

"You've got a brilliant mind, I can see that already. You'd do very well in Slytherin. You've got ambition, cunningness, cleverness. Yes you'd fit right in. But... you're a brave one aren't you? Not a stickler for rules and loyal to a fault. All that guilt too. You're very difficult, Mr. Lyman, very difficult indeed."

Josh isn't quite sure what to make of the hat's rambling. He hadn't said anything to anyone, but he'd always hoped he'd  be in Gryffindor. After all, like his father always told him nearly all of his family had been Gryffindors. But he also wasn't as prejudiced against other houses as some people were. All he really wanted was for the hat to decide already as this was taking longer than anyone else had. At this point he'd go anywhere the hat said as long as he could stop being the attention of everyone's stares.

"You've got all the makings of a powerful and brilliant wizard, but where best to put that mind, eh? Both houses will challenge you, test you, make you great. They'll both help you to get to where you aspire to be, but which one? Hmm. Yes, you'd be great in Slytherin, but it'll have to be GRYFFINDOR!"

He yells the last part to the hall at large and applause breaks out. A grin breaks out on his face as pride at being sorted into the same house as his father and sister fills him.

He makes his way to the Gryffindor table and takes a seat next to CJ, confident that they'll become fast friends, especially after being sorted into the same house. She claps him on the back and gives him a smile.

CJ doesn't ask about the whispers and stares that follow him around during the first week and he's grateful. He knows he'll have to tell her and his other friends at some point, but for now he chooses to enjoy his first week at the magical school.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed!


	4. Ch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The long awaited first meeting of Josh and Donna.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s pretty similar to their canonical meeting and also yes I have Flitwick and Pince in this but I got lazy ok. 
> 
> I don’t own The West Wing or Harry Potter.

A book, dropped on his table in the library, startles him out of his studying reverie. He looks up at the blonde who dropped the book- a Hufflepuff, third year he thinks- an admonishment on his lips, but she speaks before he can.

“My name is Donna Moss. I’m your new student.”

His mouth drops open a little, his brow furrowing. “What- uh, I’m Josh Lyman, I’m not a professor.” He’s sure this is obvious but he’s running on about 4 hours of sleep and he can’t find it in himself to care that much.

She frowns at him a little. “I know that. I meant you’re my new charms tutor. Professor Flitwick set it up.”

He rubs his eyebrow, a little slow on processing her words.

“Um, I haven’t heard anything about-“ he sighs. “I guess I need to talk to Professor Flitwick because-“

“Wait.” She smiles a little, looking bashful. “That’s not actually, um, he didn’t actually set it up.” He frowns, confusion coloring his face and opens his mouth to say something, but she beats him to it.

“I asked around and everyone I talked to said you’re the best at charms, even better than all the sixth and seventh years and I really need a charms tutor.”

Again, he frowns because he’s sure that’s not true and he absolutely does not have time to tutor someone, he barely has time to sleep and all the empty space in his head needs to be filled with potions and spells and magical theory, not charms tutoring.

“Look, I appreciate that, but I really just don’t have time. I mean, literally all my free time is either spent on the quidditch pitch or here. I need to study for my OWLs and-“

“I understand, really I do, but twice a week. That’s all I’m asking for. Twice a week for no longer than 2 hours and it’ll give you a chance to really catch up on charms even though, well I guess you don’t need it, but I could help you with other subjects. I’m pretty good at transfiguration and I’m a pro at reading out note cards.” She looks at him, her wide blue eyes pleading. “Please, I just- it’s the only subject I’m struggling with and I could really use the help and I really do think I could help you out too.”

He studies her for a moment and he really can’t help but be impressed. It takes guts to basically tell an older student that they’ll be tutoring you and she just did it without flinching. And he has a hunch that she really will be a good study partner. C.J. is great to study with, but she prefers to study in the common room and he needs the quiet of the library to concentrate. Plus it might be nice to go over the things he learned when he was younger with someone who has it relatively fresh in their mind and even though he thought he had no space in his head for her, he thinks she just made space.

“I’ll tutor you. Twice a week, right here. If you want to come sit and do homework or study or ‘help me’ that’s fine, but whenever we’re not working on charms I need quiet. Good?”

She grins at him brightly and he feels like he’s looking at the sun.

“Thank you so much, Josh. This is gonna be great I can tell.”

She leaves him to continue studying and is there, sitting at his table when he arrives the next day, her charms notes already out.

The quiet rule pretty much gets thrown out the window by the second week. She’s a chatterbox by nature and doesn’t even really seem to notice that she’s doing it. But he likes it when she talks to him because she was right when she said that charms was her worst subject because she’s brilliant at everything else and her opinions make him think and wonder if he’s looking at an issue the right way. There are some nights when the talking gets away from them and they spend hours talking about everything from the rights, or rather lack thereof, of house elves to the merits of muggle sports versus quidditch (“It’s played on broomsticks, Donna, flying broomsticks you can’t seriously sit there and tell me you like football better.”) and before they know it Madame Pince is kicking them out because it’s so late and they have to jog back to their dorms so they’re not out past curfew.

Josh often has to remind himself not get carried away too often because he does have OWLs coming up and in order to be what he wants to be he needs to get all Os, but even when they’re sitting in silence, heads bent over their respective textbooks, he feels a sense of companionship and closeness that he hardly feels with anyone else.

Her grades in charms improve significantly and she begins to joke about how she may not need him anymore and he feels strangely empty at the comment. But she’s there, always, long past the time she needed his tutoring and it’s months before he realizes that Donna Moss has become his best friend. 

 


End file.
